Awkward Confessions
by Satan Abraham
Summary: It was true. He, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, had a slight crush on Touko Fukawa, and was just about to blurt it out despite knowing that it was a horrible, horrible idea. [ishimaru/fukawa] [oneshot]


Ishimaru checked his watch again. Yes, it was seven minutes after their decided meeting time, and Touko Fukawa was late.

He wondered if she'd run into Togami and started following him or something of the sort. Though that hadn't happened recently… it was always a possibly, what with her infatuation with him. Ishimaru couldn't say he approved, for more than one reason – he didn't seem to have any interest in her at all, they just weren't a good fit, and… well, Ishimaru had somehow managed to cultivate a crush on her.

It was only a small crush. One that only sped up his heartbeat a little bit when she entered a room, and made him flush with embarrassment when their hands brushed against each other's. Near the beginning of the year, they'd decided to study together every Wednesday, due to Ishimaru's frustration with most literature and Fukawa's irritation with the sciences.

She burst into the library then, breathless and redfaced. "You are late, Fukawa-kun," he said, trying to keep it a bit light. Her eyes widened and she clutched her elbows.

"S-sorry," she muttered, slumping down into the chair next to his. Ishimaru was acutely aware of just how close she was, and diverted his eyes back to the textbook.

"We will just have to alter our schedule," he said. He looked over their schoolwork. "Hm. Well, I believe if we skip the peer reviewing of each other's essays and simply take them back to our rooms to proofread, we should be fine. It is a shame to lose that, but it is a sacrifice we must make."

She nodded and looked at his book. "What are we doing in Trigonometry?" she asked, and then sighed. "I don't even know, because the teacher thinks I'm so stupid and can't do any of it, so I don't even try."

"Don't think that way," Ishimaru said. "See, it is simple. All you have to do is take the tangent of this angle…"

He went off, explaining and drawing diagrams in her notebook, not even noticing that she wasn't looking at what he was doing until he glanced up and saw her staring at him.

Ishimaru realized that his arm was reaching over her and pulled it back, turning slightly red. "I… I'm sorry," he said. "Do you understand now?"

"Of course not," she muttered, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. She flushed a dark red, and Ishimaru felt his face grow even hotter to match. He hoped that nobody else was in the library. "It doesn't make any sense. Of course, everyone else gets it, I'm the only one."

"Nonsense," Ishimaru said, turning the page of her notebook. "There are several others who don't understand. Naegi-kun, for one, I had to help him the other day! And my brother as well! Let's try it again. Math is much easier than other things – it's so much more definite and absolute. Watch this time."

He explained it again, using different colored pens to illustrate different things and color coding her notes. She did seem to be paying attention this time, nodding every few moments and leaning over to make sure that she could see.

Once he had successfully redone all of the example problems, as well as a few of the actual assignment, he leaned back, satisfied with his work.

"T-thank you, my white prince," she muttered, almost too soft for him to hear. He froze.

"Um, I believe you are mistaken," he said, turning slightly red. "I thought Togami-kun was your prince."

She averted her eyes, face bright red. "I didn't say anything," she said. She was still talking very quietly. "And even if I did, it doesn't matter, because you wouldn't like _me._ Who would?"

"I like you," Ishimaru said. Fukawa rolled her eyes.

"No, not like friendship-"

"I know what you are talking about," Ishimaru said. "Romantic like. Taking you out on dates and buying you flowers and lifting you across puddles."

She darkened even more, and Ishimaru, feeling his face grow hot and words run together, kept going.

"And going to movies with you and holding your hand except not in school of course public displays of affection in school are not permitted, definitely not, and buying you things for your birthday and other holidays and," he took a deep breath, ready to go on. She was blushing a lot, but she looked happy, too. "And going to festivals and school events with you and helping you with your homework, not that I don't already do that, haha, and telling you that you look beautiful and that you're worth it and intelligent and a fantastic author, definitely worthy of the Super High School Level Literary Girl and I'm sorry."

He stood up, bright red, and left the table. He found himself leaning against a shelf of books, breathing heavily. Why had he done that? That had been a ridiculous thing to do. Not only had he wasted precious study time, but he had thoroughly embarrassed himself. He'd embarrassed Fukawa and he'd embarrassed himself, and they were never going to study together again, probably. He dug his fingernails into his palms, trying to keep a control over his emotions.

After a few moments, he managed to collect himself enough to go back to the table.

"I apologize again for my misconduct," he said stiffly, and she looked at him.

"Huh?" was all she said. Then it dawned on her and she scowled. "I knew it. It was all just a joke, you just wanted to pull me in with your sweet words and-"

"No, no, it was not a joke!" Ishimaru said, a bit panicked. She looked at him. "I really… I really do feel that way. I was not sure how you would react, given your previous infatuation with Togami-kun, so I…"

They stayed like that for a few more moments, both of them bright red, neither of them looking at the other.

"S-so," Fukawa said hesitantly. "Does that mean that we're dating now?"

"I… I suppose it does," Ishimaru said, swallowing. "This weekend, then?"

* * *

**I'm telling you, I'm starting to get very attached to this pairing. I've written so much of it.**

**This was requested by an anon on Tumblr, who wanted an Ishimaru x Fukawa with her accidentally calling him her 'white prince.' So, here it is!**


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